The final girl trope, a traditional concept in mainstream slasher models, refers to the last girl(s) or woman(s) left alive to fight the killer or other threat in a movie. horror, video game, novel, or similar medium. While the ultimate female trope was integrated into mainstream horror by cult classic slasher franchises like Hallowe’en, Friday the 13thY The Texas Chainsaw Massacrethere are countless other interpretations across the spectrum of horror.
On the more pressing issue of horror video games, which don’t seem to generate the same mass appeal as feature films, the tried-and-true trope isn’t quite as stylistically clear. There are wide interpretations of the definition of the final girl, but more often than not, the final girl outlives all other characters and lives to tell the story of her ordeal. However, some iterations of the final female trope, especially in video games, don’t always follow the same strict formula.
8/8 Until sunrise
Supermassive Games’ Until sunrise debuted in 2015 to launch the well-known Dark Pictures Anthology that includes medan man, little hope, Y house of ashesall of which were huge hits. Until sunrise It exploits the chaos theory known as the butterfly effect, a phenomenon in which a seemingly insignificant change in a larger, more complex system can have major, sometimes disastrous, effects.
Until sunriseThe last girl in is Samantha Giddings (Hayden Panettiere), an optimistic and shrewd animal lover who finds herself, along with her friends, enduring a night of terror. What makes Sam’s final feminine traits so unconventional is the reality that every other character’s life is in her hands. She can kill them all as easily as she can save them, all depending on the player’s crucial choices.
7/8 little nightmares
The terror of the puzzle platform little nightmares follows Six, a starving girl who must navigate the Maw, a giant iron vessel that houses distorted, grotesque, and monstrous beings who wish to harm her. Lulling players into a false sense of security, little nightmares it paints the misleading picture that Six is innocent and devoid of evil, unlike the warped denizens of the Maw.
However, in a shocking twist, Six rebels against the rules of the ultimate female trope who insists on her integrity and kindness. Six, while experiencing debilitating hunger, begins to feast sporadically on her helpful Nome friends, eventually turning to the Lady (the antagonist) and the Guests who have continually tried to devour her. Six flips the trope on its head by exposing her malicious intent, which is further explored after she callously allows Mono to seemingly fall to his death in little nightmares 2.
6/8 demonic resident
There are countless exemplary specimens to be found for ultimate unorthodox girls in the demonic resident franchise. Regardless of supporting characters, the main women are Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, and Ada Wong, all of whom break the ultimate girlish stereotype. Without needing to examine them all separately, Jill, Claire, and Ada are polar opposites of the standard archetype. By definition and status, a final girl is usually an ordinary girl/woman who finds herself caught up in extraordinary scenarios without the means, knowledge, or ability to defend herself.
However, long before the outbreak in Raccoon City, Jill Valentine was already a Special Operations Agent (SOA), Claire a talented fighter, and Ada exceptional in the art of espionage. All three of the demonic resident The lead actresses were well equipped to handle the outbreak even before it worsened into a pandemic.
5/8 silent hill 3
Similar to the Valentine-Redfield-Wong complex, silent hill 3‘s Heather Mason does not outlive her fellow survivors. She appears as the main protagonist of Silent HillThe third digital output of but turns the latest female trope on its head in the most direct way possible. The term derives from the concept of the last woman standing, but Heather, in addition to briefly interacting with others, battles all the weird and wonderful creatures that reside in the sleepy American town of Silent Hill, all alone from the start.
There have been arguments for Heather Mason’s status as one of the most fascinating and intriguing characters in all of history. Silent Hill franchise, which makes it all the more satisfying that she goes against the assumptions that make the final girl trope so predictable and systematic.
4/8 Doki Doki Literature Club!
This one may be a bit surprising, but as Doki Doki Literature Club! Classified as a psychological horror (despite its initial marketing to the contrary) and revolving around an extremely atypical final girl, it’s not as far-fetched as one might initially think. Doki Doki Literature Club! it’s pitched as a light-hearted dating sim, but it soon becomes clear that Monika, the admirable leader of the club, is orchestrating the brutal deaths of her peers in order to claim the eligible bachelor (the unsuspecting player) for her own.
By the end of the game, Monika has successfully outdone the competition, so all that is left is the MC (main character) and herself in an endless void of digital deprivation. Eventually, using some software tricks (thanks to Dan Salvato for the clever backdoor), Monika gets her comeuppance and realizes the error of her ways, thus restoring Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki’s deleted files. After Monika reveals herself as DDLC‘s Big Bad, it’s hard to argue that her radical transition is the furthest thing from a conventional final girl that’s ever been.
3/8 the last of us part 2
Another fairly self-explanatory departure from a usual final girl, The last of us two sees Ellie and Abby, our central protagonists (antagonists in each other’s stories), square off in a wrestling match that spans several hours of gameplay. following from The last of usthe sequel centers on a now 18-year-old Ellie navigating a romantic relationship with Dina, a blossoming rivalry with Abby, and the apocalypse worsening, all while reeling from Joel’s death, which sets her on the path to revenge. . .
As the last of us 2 freely swapping Ellie and Abby’s respective missions, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that both Ellie and Abby are the final girls, but instead of combining their efforts to fight a common threat or fight their own enemies, Ellie and Abby are in a mission to kill each other, which doesn’t sound very orthodox for a final girl. Also, most of the final girls come out of a ordeal with a lot more to live for, but Ellie loses Dina and some fingers, which means she can no longer keep the memory of Joel alive by playing her guitar.
2/8 Amnesia: Rebirth
Serving as a sequel to Amnesia the dark descentfriction games’ Amnesia: Rebirth instead, it focuses on Anastasie “Tasi” Trianon instead of Daniel. Again, instead of fighting to survive like typical final girls do, Tasi’s plane lands in an unknown environment and she explores the earth alone. Another crucial component that defines the final female trope is the subject’s ability to fight back against a threat. However, Tasi doesn’t have that same luxury. In Amnesia: Rebirththere is no kind of combat system and therefore when Tasi encounters a supernatural entity she is forced to run or hide and those are her only two options.
By taking away Tasi’s chance to combat the darkness, she is less of a Final Girl and more of an unlucky victim who relies on luck and strategy rather than an inherently fierce survival instinct. Very similar Until sunrisefor much the same reasons as Sam, Tasi’s own choices have a direct bearing on her fellow survivor Amari’s demise or prosperity, making her less passive in her own outcome than the final girls bound by the conventions of the horror trope.
1/8 fears of depth
fears of depth it’s something of a hidden gem for horror fans and could be more confusing in terms of structure and the ultimate presence of a final female character. Divided into chapters, each recreation accurately depicts the real-life events of the authors who submitted their stories. Players are armed with the knowledge that the victims in these brief interactions are alive and well, despite a pre-programmed ending that begs to be different.
From the beginning, we know that the final girls (which in this case could also be boys) come out unscathed for the most part, but while most of the final girls are guaranteed to make it out alive, fears of depthThe more achievable ending of results in the capture and/or presumed death of the player, which does not fit the standard ending definitions of the girls.
